No. 4 South Carolina women suffers first home loss since 2020
from Andrew Wright, with YardBarker.com/www.yardbarker.com
All good things eventually come to an end, and that was the case for No. 4 South Carolina on Sunday. The Lady Gamecocks suffered a loss on their home floor for the first time since Dec. 3, 2020, snapping a 71-game home winning streak.
“I think we had, probably, all of our streaks broken this particular year, but it was a hell of a ride to win 71 straight here,” South Carolina head coach Dawn Staley said after the game. “We got a chance to start a new streak on Thursday, and we got to get back at it.”
They were knocked off by No. 7 UConn, which dominated the game from start to finish. The Huskies took a 14-11 lead with 2:55 remaining in the first quarter and never trailed again after that point.
Azzi Fudd was the star of the game, finishing with 28 points and knocking down six three-pointers. Fudd has now scored 28+ points in back-to-back games after scoring 34 on Wednesday in a win over St. John’s.
Despite not scoring as much as usual, Paige Bueckers was productive, finishing with 12 points, seven rebounds and 10 assists. Sarah Strong also collected a double-double, finishing with 16 points and 13 rebounds.
Not much went right for South Carolina, as it shot just 17.6 percent from three-point range and scored its least amount of points this season.
The Gamecocks bench outscored the starters, 31-27, with the bench scoring led by Joyce Edwards (17 points) and MiLaysia Fulwiley (11 points).
Two losses in a three-game stretch are a rarity for South Carolina basketball, and if they’ve taught us anything from the past, the Lady Gamecocks may not lose again the rest of the season.